


hello, hello

by theafterimages



Category: EXO (Band), SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 15:02:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9077887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theafterimages/pseuds/theafterimages
Summary: Taemin forgets his debit card and ends up having to pay off his dinner bill via washing the dishes. In the process he meets the restaurant owners’ son, Jongin.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sleepydanceur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepydanceur/gifts).



> Written for sleepydanceur for… Christmas 2015. ;; Based on one of the prompts in [this post](http://onetruepairingideas.tumblr.com/post/125889771716/cooking-au-prompts).  
> Kamong is named after Kai’s sister’s café, though in this story it’s a restaurant owned by Kai’s parents instead.

Taemin has been meaning to eat at Kamong Restaurant ever since the day he noticed it, but for one reason or another he has never gotten around to it. Today, when his stomach rumbles right as he walks past the small brick building, Taemin decides it's a sign and walks in.

He’s glad he did even before the food arrives, but twice as glad afterwards. It’s the best fried chicken he has ever had, and he has eaten a lot of fried chicken in his life. It’s so good that for once Taemin even decides to spring for dessert, which turns out to be almost as delicious as the chicken. Taemin is going to have to eat here again for sure. Maybe every night for the rest of his life.

His waitress, Yerim, brings him the check at last. “How was everything?” she asks with a bright smile.

“It was great!” he says enthusiastically as he pulls out his wallet. 

“Good!” 

Yerim keeps talking, but Taemin tunes her out as he flips through his wallet only to discover that his debit card is nowhere to be seen. He checks again, and then a third time, but there’s still nothing. “Um, hold on,” he mumbles.

“It’s okay, take your time!” Yerim says.

Taemin knows that that can’t be true. Nearly every single table is full, and it's loud enough that Taemin has been glad that he didn’t come with anyone. He’s not sure if he could have made himself heard in here. “I’ll keep looking, if you can check back in a few minutes,” he suggests.

Yerim nods gratefully and takes off, leaving Taemin to frantically search his wallet one more time, then his pockets. No debit card. No cash.

He'll ask Wonshik for help, Taemin decides, and pulls out his phone. Wonshik will bring him some money, even if he will give Taemin a hard time about it afterwards.

Except Taemin’s phone is dead.

His stomach sinking, Taemin waves Yerim back over.

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, Taemin agrees to work off the bill via dish duty.

The manager—a small, incredibly handsome man named Joonmyun—walks Taemin to the kitchen. Taemin can’t quite suppress an appreciative noise as the delicious food smells waft toward him.

There are several employees running around the cooking area, all of them hard at work. Joonmyun leads Taemin past it to the dish station, where dishes and pots are piled up.

There is one more employee back here. He’s perched at the very edge of the nearby counter, his eyes closed and his head leaning back against the wall. He doesn’t look comfortable, but then, Taemin has fallen asleep in stranger places.

Joonmyun nudges the guy. “Your break’s over, Jongin,” he says, albeit gently, as Jongin’s eyes flutter open. “Can you show Taemin how to do the dishes?”

“Huh?” Jongin blinks at Taemin in bewilderment, lips parted. Pretty lips, red and full, Taemin can’t help but note, though he does his best to look into Jongin’s eyes instead. They’re pretty, too. Everything about him is.

“It’s a long story, but Taemin can tell you all about it while he works,” Joonmyun says cheerfully, squeezing Jongin’s shoulder. “Thanks, Jongin.”

Jongin slides off the counter as Joonmyun bustles away. He’s still studying Taemin with obvious confusion. “Why are you doing dishes?”

“I lost my card,” Taemin admits. 

“I lose things, too,” Jongin says sympathetically. “I’m not allowed to carry my passport when we go to Korea anymore.”

“My mom doesn’t let me, either,” Taemin admits with a laugh. “I lost it once in Switzerland, so ever since…”

Jongin laughs, startled. “What did you do?”

“We found it again,” Taemin assures him. “Oh, I’m Taemin.”

“Jongin,” Jongin says. “I, uh, guess I should help you with the dishes.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Jongin laughs. “I should be thanking you. This means I won’t have to do them.”

Jongin ends up helping Taemin with the dishes anyway, both of them talking as they work. It turns out that Jongin is home for Christmas break.

“I want to be a dance teacher, so I’m a dual major,” he explains.

“Me, too,” Taemin says in surprise, though he’s even more surprised when it turns out how similar their pets are, too.

“How haven’t we met before?” Jongin says in disbelief. “We have so much in common.”

“My roommate would say it wasn’t meant to be until now,” Taemin offers.

Jongin smiles at him. His smile is pretty, too, Taemin notes; not for the first time. “You were meant to forget your card?”

Their hands brush when Taemin passes him the next pot to stack with the rest. It’s not the first time that that has happened, either. “I’m glad I did,” Taemin admits.

“Me, too,” Jongin says shyly, and Taemin lets himself move just a little closer to Jongin’s side.


End file.
